Where: Hẻm 207 Lê Văn Sỹ, Phường 13, Quận 3, Hồ Chí Minh City
Type: Indoor Café
Offer: Drinks and Food
Price: $$
This interesting looking café is slightly hidden in District 3, at the end of an alley off Le Van Sy behind the market near the bridge. You would not expect to find this little gem in this location.
The café occupies the whole 4 storey building, with plenty of greens from trees and plants hiding some of the grey coloured stone. It looks very welcoming from the outside, and you would find it hard not to stop here.
When entering there is a tree welcoming you in the middle of the path, providing bot shade and maybe indicates the quiet relaxing atmosphere you can experience inside.
The ground floor has a slight rustic look, with small wooden tables and rather old fashion chairs and sofas. Thanks to the windows you can see the yard outside, but not a lot of sunlight comes inside due to the shade provided by the tree and plants.
Via a wooden staircase you reach the first floor, that has a less rustic and more open feel, as more lights comes through the window and the lighter colour of the furniture. I must admit, the first floor seems to be the nicer place to sit, and it was busy during my visit, while the ground floor was empty.
During the day the other floors are closed, so I was unable to visit the rooftop, which looks rather beautiful on photos. It should be open in the evening unless it is booked for private functions.
The café offers a good mix of drinks, ranging from the usual coffee, tea and juices to some more interesting options like coffee with Bailey or Rum, mocktails, cocktails or ice blended drinks. I had one of the juices. The peach tea was actually nice. But I can imagine it must be nice enjoying a cocktail on the rooftop at night.
They also serve food here. Besides the usual items like Bo Kho, Bun Bo Hue or Hu Tieu they serve curry, Nui Bolognese and even Russian Salad. The Nui was nice, though their Russian salad was a bit different as it lacked the potatoes and had lettuce instead. This might be the healthier option, but I prefer having the original version. But I would not mind trying the other dishes here.
Overall it is a nice place with a nice range of drinks and food options. While the prices are not cheap they are certainly not too expensive for the drinks, the traditional Vietnamese soups are double the price from the places you might find along the street of the café. The atmosphere is nice relaxing and quiet, so I might try this place for work when I am not in the office.
They have a second Oz Coffee House on the other side of District 3, which I plan to visit soon.
Rating: 8/10
(First visited January 2019)
